


Hyacinthus

by lilacnightmares



Series: Flowers of Paradise [5]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Not Beta Read, POV Multiple, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Spoilers For The Entire Game, Trans Male Character, Trans Yoosung Kim, Transphobia, Unknown has a lot of bad tendencies and you shouldn't condone it, alternate universe to convallaria majalis, but here we are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-01-07 04:14:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18402893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacnightmares/pseuds/lilacnightmares
Summary: Is it better to sleep a slumber bathed in naivety in the garden underneath the moonlight? Or is it best to accept reality at its worth and toil the garden in a storm? She struggles to decide which choice is best as her heart falls deeper and deeper for this man that should trigger all the warning signs in her brain to run. Will she sleep now or will she wake up?Unknown x OCA standalone fic that can read without reading any of the other stories in the series.





	1. Cringe

I

**Cringe**

* * *

As long as she could remember there had been an anchor tied to her leg dragging her further and further down into the abyss. It had seemed to only get worse as she grew older, and yet in spite of that weight, she held her weak head up as much as she could manage. She bit back her tongue and kept walking forwards even as her weary body grew more tired. Why she did that was the question that she never knew the answer for. It simply just happened. It happened as simply as her existence did.

To live was to fall.

At least, it felt as though that were the case. Be it the pain from her recent losses to death, or the pain that stemmed from digging yourself free of the grave you dug for yourself; It seemed as though humans were meant to feel the misery that came from heartbreak and grief that came with death of a loved one, just as they were meant to feel the wild breeze in their hair on an afternoon and joyful tears that might come from love and friends. With nails digging into the palms of her hands, Lila seemed to accept that pain and joy went hand and hand.

As nihilistic as it sounded to most, she was earnestly trying to work on that point of view to make it less like a somber melody and more of a happy tune. She had taken her bad hand she had been given by her parents, her family, her loved ones, her friends, even her own failed relationships, and tried to create something from that misery.

Lila spent hours in her studio with the balls of her palm pressed into against a canvas pouring out all of those feelings into things that she considered herself proud of. Even if others didn't see the merit in what she was doing.

At the very least, that's Unknown could see as he read through her files.

"What a naive princess she is. It almost seems too easy to go to the trouble to bring her to paradise," he noted, for the fifth time that hour with a sigh against his lips. Nevertheless, it was his dictated job to take care of and he had to go to the effort of bringing her to paradise no matter how easy or difficult he made it out to be. The Savior had told him how important it was to make sure that he brought her to paradise, and that she was going to be  _very_  crucial in their mission to remove the world of any trace of the RFA and its members.

When she lay the path of her plans in front of him he really didn't need to think all that hard about it. Dangle this princess on a string to the RFA and they will whisper all of their weaknesses. The kind of helpless and soft look in her eyes would be enough to drag man and woman to their knees. She was supposed to go straight to the apartment and stay with them until the time came for the eternal party.

That was how it was supposed to be. It would happen slowly and then all at once. Once she was brought back to paradise it would all make sense. Her rightful place was beside him and the Savior in paradise... and as the time came for him to make his next action to set these plans into motion, it became harder and harder for him to imagine letting the princess be amongst those traitors. It was unbecoming for her and felt a sour taste in his mouth. He wasn't going to admit it but he wanted to keep her all to himself.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn't absolutely enamored with this mysterious woman. After all, he had spent so much time and effort learning about her and everything that made her click to relay to the Savior, and all that effort could be for nothing if he didn't do it right. It wasn't a guarantee that she was going to listen to all of his commands because she was far too kind for her own good. So why place it all on a bet when he could cement this instead? All of his hard work was going to bring about a new age for paradise but that alone was not enough to satisfy his dark desires.

No, he wanted more... oh so much more from all of this. That couldn't be a bad thing, either, since the Savior was always telling him to be bolder and stronger then he was the day before. If he wanted something then he had to revel in his dark feelings and take what he wanted for himself. But he had to do what he was told. So, when the time came, he went through with the plan that had been handed to him, that is to say... he went through with the first part of the plan.

But oh, oh, it was such a shame that Unknown didn't want to share his princess with anyone.

* * *

**Unknown has entered the chatroom.**

**Wisteria has entered the chatroom.**

**Unknown:**  Hello?

**Wisteria:**  ...?

**Unknown:** Can you see this?

**Wisteria:** Um, yeah.

**Unknown:**  Thank God. I thought I would never get an answer from anyone.

**Unknown:** You see, I found this smartphone at the subway station, but the only thing that it had on it was this messenger app.

**Unknown:** I really want to find the owner but I don't really see any other kind of contact information.

**Unknown:** I've been trying to text through this app but I haven't been able to get a response.

**Unknown:** Until just, I guess.

**Wisteria:** I'm a bit perplexed myself. I don't remember downloading this app on my phone... haha;;

**Wisteria:** Must be from the jetlag or something bending my brain.

**Wisteria:** I'm afraid I don't know whose phone that might be, either.

**Unknown:**  That's a shame.

**Wisteria:** I don't mind helping you sort this out but I don't think I'll be much help. I'm not from this area.

**Wisteria:** My name's Lila... what's yours?

**Unknown:** Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even introduce myself, did I?

**Unknown:** That's rude of me.

**Unknown:** My name isn't really all that important... that's kind of why I left my username blank.

**Unknown:** I'm Korean, and by your own words, I'm assuming you aren't.

**Wisteria:** American... actually.

**Unknown:** Wow, you came from a long ways away.

**Wisteria:** To clear my head, if that makes sense.

**Unknown:** Sure. I can understand.

**Unknown:** I'd hate to bother you anymore and I figure you're probably really wary of strangers in a foreign country...

**Unknown:**  I'm not all that great at talking to people... or reaching out... but I really want to find the owner of this phone.

**Wisteria:** You could take it to the police station, you know.

**Wisteria:** Or the lost and found at the train station.

**Unknown:** Yeah. That makes the most sense but... ah.

**Unknown:** I've got really bad social anxiety when it comes to stuff like this.

**Wisteria:**  Oh...

**Wisteria:** I understand. I have the same problem.

**Wisteria:** Don't you have any friends that accompany you?

**Unknown:**  Ah, no. I'm pretty new to this area since I came here for my studies.

**Unknown:** There is an address in this phone but that's really about it. I didn't want to just pop into somebody's place out of nowhere without being able to speak with them first!

**Unknown:** You wouldn't happen to want to go there for me?

**Unknown:** Would you?

**Wisteria:** Just pop up to a stranger's place to tell me this person found their phone but they're too nervous to give it back themselves?

**Wisteria:** You're joking right? lol

**Wisteria:** Don't put me in that position too!

**Unknown:** It is strange to suggest, isn't it?

**Unknown:** lol

**Unknown:**  I'm kind of trapped between a rock and a hard place.

**Wisteria:** I'm gonna kick myself for this but if you're in the same area as me then I might be able to come with you to drop it off with the authorities. What could it hurt?

**Wisteria:** As long as it's in a public area.

**Unknown:** Really?

**Unknown:** Oh, man, I never thought someone would be so nice to me like that.

**Unknown:** [address]

**Unknown:** I'm in a very open space right now. So if you don't want to go through with helping me then you could turn around and I'll try to figure out how to not be a coward on my own.

**Wisteria:** That's not all that far from me.

**Wisteria:**...Well, okay.

**Wisteria:** I'm trying to do good things for others lately.

**Wisteria:**  This'll be my good deed for the day.

**Unknown:** Thank you.

**Unknown:** I can't believe you'd trust me.

**Wisteria:** Don't make me regret it now.

**Wisteria:** lol

**Unknown:** Of course not.

**Wisteria:** See you in a moment, I guess.

**Unknown:** Yes.

**Unknown has left the chatroom.**

**Wisteria has left the chatroom.**

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE.**

Well. I could not help myself so now I'm going to start another fanfic with my MC. This is an alternate universe in comparison to my other fic with my MC so there's a lot of differences and you don't have to read the other fic to read this one at all. It follows a different path. Let me know how you feel about it so I can keep writing!


	2. 27

II

**27**

* * *

Lila didn't know why she chose to come to this country in particular. It might have had something to do with the fact that this was where her Father supposedly ran off to after he abandoned their family out of the blue, or it might have had something to do with the idea that it was as far as you could get away from her hometown and her Mother. She didn't really care to think it through or linger around the reasoning. For once in her life, she was trying to attempt to do something without thinking it through. For her to be able to do something without the tangled puppet strings that had hung over her head for years...

Well, it's all that she wanted.

It would have been too easy for her to just stay with her big sister Lucy and her new growing family. That place was always bright and filled with harmonious laughter. A very long shot from the childhood that they had. For all intents and purposes, it wasn't a bad place to find yourself after your life had run itself through the shredder.

But yet, those four walls surrounding them could be a kind of entrapment as well, and for Lila, it was hard to stay in the same place as Lucy after she had fought her for so long. It just didn't feel like home. Then again, nothing felt like home. She never felt like she belonged no matter where she found herself, and it was because of that she was still struggling to find herself. It didn't matter that it had been a year or two since she had bottomed out, the lingering pain from that event was still haunting her mentally and physically... and if the home is where the heart is, then it seems she's just out of luck.

Deep down in her heart that entire time that she spent pushing people away she knew that they were right and she was making so many mistakes. It was just hard to admit you had screwed up when you did this to yourself.

That's all.

So, she packed her things and booked the next flight to Seoul. It had been less than forty-eight hours ago that she had left behind her small town, but she could still remember parting ways with her family as if it had been only moments ago.

"Lila, this is kind of out of the blue. What exactly are planning on doing while you're gone?" Lucy asked. She rested her hand against her hip and stared down her sister with wary eyes. Her daughter was doing the exact same thing, although, a bit more oblivious to why they were doing it. "You're not the type to just travel somewhere for your work. You usually just get what you need off the internet, so what's so important about this? So important that you're going to leave Mia here stuck with another babysitter for a while."

Mia nodded her head. She was only two years old, but her words were starting to make more sense as of late. "Lie-Lie stay!"

"I'm... going to try something different," Lila said, carefully. She leaned over and brushed her fingers against the top of her niece's head, giving her a few gentle pats. "I'll be back in a few weeks, tops, kiddo. You'll have a lot more fun with your Mom's friends then you do with me. I think your Mom's still upset I let you paint on the walls."

Mia just pouted.

Lucy cocked an eyebrow. "Well, I'm not going to stop you from going. I just want you to remember to call us every once and a while. I would hate to think how much Mia will miss you."

"You wound me, Lucy, you're not going to miss me while I'm gone?" Lila said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just teasing you," Lucy said.

Lila smiled. "I know." She picked up her bag and turned towards the door to get a move on. "I know you're worried and all, Lucy, but I am a grown up now, remember? I can handle myself when I need to. It's not like I'm running into anything dangerous without my head on my shoulders. I'm just going to take a break for myself. What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

Lila stared at her phone with a bit of curiosity building in her gut. As she spoke more with this stranger on the phone the more that she felt like something was up. It didn't seem like any of their explanations were adding up, but, Lila was trying to see the best in people. If someone said that they were struggling in a way that she did... her empathy overtook her brain and she just went to help them. It was why she had often been hurt in the past. Because she cared far too much than the average person.

She wanted to believe it was a strength.

It felt kind of shady but how could she know that she wasn't just exaggerating that?

Lila glanced around the crowded street; It would be impossible to tell on the busy city streets if who she was looking for was around.  _They said they would be around here but I don't see anyone that matches their description._ She thought.

"I guess they were pulling my leg," she whispered.

She looked left, and then looked right. If they weren't going to make themselves known to her now then she was just going to turn around and head for her hotel. If they really wanted help then they would try to reach out for it instead of ignoring it. What had she been thinking anyway? Just offer to help someone she didn't know in another country just like that?

Well, if they were going to be a no show then she should try to figure out her way back.

There was a hand on her arm before she could make up her mind.

"Hello, there little Wisteria... so sorry to have kept you waiting, but I had to be sure you were alone before we finally met. Oh, and I wouldn't try screaming right now. I would hate to have to hurt you when we just met. That would put us off at such a bad place, don't you think?" A voice was right next to her ear. As menacing as that voice sounded, something about the way he spoke made her feel strangely warm on the inside. It was like when you heard the hiss of a snake as it approached you, but with nowhere to turn you backed yourself into a corner and resigned yourself to getting bitten.

She whipped her head to find herself staring at these haunting green eyes with a wicked look underneath them. He had bleached hair with the faintest tips of reddish-pink hue as if he had tried to do it himself and hadn't been able to the color that had been there before he submerged his head in the strong white chemical. Unknown, as she had decided to call him, looked like he had walked into a Hot Topic and grabbed the first thing he saw to make himself look tough in that leather jacket that hung from his shoulders and a tank top that fit a little too well.

It was a stark contrast to her bubblegum pink coord. She looked more like she had just walked right out of the Sanrio store with her head held high and just the right amount of ribbons and bows to decorate her outfit. It wasn't often that she pulled out her cutest coords, but she had wanted the day to feel as far from sweatpants and oversized tee shirts as she could.

" _You're Unknown_ , then."

It made him grin involuntarily. "I guess you aren't as half-witted as your family wants to believe but didn't your parents ever tell you not to trust strangers so blindly, princess?"

Her reaction to act like she wasn't terrified was a failure. She might have been saying one thing but her body was saying the exact opposite. If she had been smart enough to trust her gut then she would've just turned tail and ran, or shouted out for help, but her body was refusing to listen to the nerve signals her brain was sending them.

That left her feet planted firmly on the ground as this stranger gripped his fingertips into her shoulder. Lila swallowed her fears and managed to stammer out something in response. "If- If I listened to everything my parents said then I wouldn't have left my house the minute I got the chance to run."

It only made Unknown laugh at her expense.

"It really is my lucky day," he commented, idly. "I guess you really would have gone through with the plan had I let you go through with it. Oh well, it's not much of a loss, anyway. You just get to come to paradise much sooner than the rest of them."

"...Plan? What plan? What are you talking about?" Lila asked, trying to keep her cool.

Unknown tsked, shaking his head. "I'm getting far too ahead of myself and I really don't have the patience to put up with a game of twenty questions. Isn't it much better to learn as you're thrown to the wolves? I'll spell it out real simple so even somebody like you can understand. I've come to whisk you away to the place of your dreams, a paradise on Earth where only the chosen may wander its ground, where all of your fantasies can come true, and you, my dear naive princess, are going to be coming with me whether you like it or not."

Lila's heart had begun to race. She dared to ask, "And if I resist?"

"Oh, I didn't think you would want to ask that knowing that I could say anything... but let's just say you wouldn't like the answer, trust me," He told her without hesitation. "We shouldn't have to bring guns into a civil conversation."

That threat hung in the air like an anchor.

"You know... you... you really shouldn't lie to people like that, it really isn't right," Lila said, twisting her head back around to look in front of herself instead of directly at this guy. "If y-you're truly from some kind of place where everyone is h-happy then y-you wouldn't have to frighten people to g-get them to do what you want."

For some reason, she was burning with some kind of fight that she had never felt before in her life. It might have been the adrenaline pumping in her veins making her so brave, but if this had been any normal day she would have burst into tears and begged for mercy from somebody like this.

From his perspective, she was about to burst into tears. It was quite the sight to behold and as much as he liked pulling girl's hair on the playground and making them cry, he had a job to do.

"I'll take that into consideration," he said,  _but it was a lie_ , of course, hidden underneath the cold and twisted laugh of his. "Now then, why don't we go ahead and skip the formalities? You know how this is going to end. Start walking, princess, and if you dare to do anything stupid then I'll have to carry you all the way back to paradise unconscious."

She had no choice but to walk.

The cat that ate the canary knows best what could go wrong.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE.**

Thanks for the good words, you guys. I'm really excited to work on this one in the meantime while I sort out the finer details for my other story, and I'm glad this one will be able to tide a lot of you over.


	3. W.D.Y.W.F.M.

III

**W.D.Y.W.F.M.**

* * *

What a frightful mess that she had gotten her threads tangled within. Unknown had demanded that she put on a blindfold once they stepped out of the city limits far enough that nobody was around them. It was so she wouldn't be able to trace any of the paths back or to the building. There was no way to argue with him. So, she reluctantly domed the black cover and plunged her world into absolute darkness. The last thing that she saw was this man looking into her eyes with an expectant and knowing glint.

Then, it began.

It was a long and silent car ride to this so-called Paradise.

Her fingertips trembled against her skirt as she sat there listening to the hum of the engine. Lila tried to get in a word edgewise with him but he would just tell her to shut her mouth if she knew what was good for her sake. What good that was. No matter how she thought about it there was no way for her to get the hell out of dodge. She didn't know the lay of the land and she had no way of knowing how to find her way around the city, much less the countryside they seemed to be heading towards.

It had been her second day in Seoul and her first real decision to be a good samaritan had gotten her kidnapped. Lucy had been right when she called her a baby. She was far too trusting of others and because of that fact, she was now a sitting duck. Every once and a while Lila could swear that she could hear Unknown whispering little eccentricities to himself.

His plans... his excitement... his goals.

Whatever it was that he was looking forward to was not something that she was looking forward to finding out about.

"You'll like it there," she heard him whisper lowly. "You'll be safe from the unforgiving outside world."

* * *

The moment that the engine died and the quiet overtook the vehicle was the moment that he lead her through a winding path that seemingly went on forever. It was likely that he was trying to mess with her sense of perception by taking her along a path that he might not usually travel himself. All she knew was that it was dark and it was lonely. When he stopped walking, he instructed her to remove her blindfold. With her vision returned to her person, she could take this room into view. At least, she would have done so if she could. As the heavy door shut behind the both of them it cut off all the hint of light that she had from the edge of her vision.

Heavy footsteps clattered against the ground and before she had any warning to shield her eyes -

bright blue light burned into her retinas bathing the dark room with an unnatural robotic hue.

She winced at the sudden illumination and rubbed the pain away.

Lila had never seen so many desktop screens in one room, much less the hulking giant piece of a hard drive that had been shoved into the corner of the room. It was chilling to the bone inside of this dark and dusty chamber, and she could surmise the only reason being to keep all of that technology from overheating. Whatever operation he was running here was all kinds of high-tech. No wonder he had somehow been able to simply tap into her phone and add something if he had these sorts of things at his dispense.

Just what in the world was this place?

What in the world were these people planning?

With outstretched arms and dramatics teed up to eleven, he whipped his arms out to his side and stared her down with that familiar gaze that hardened the longer she waited to say anything.

"Impressed?" He asked.

Unsure of what to say to him, her shoulders rose and fell as Lila took in a deep breath.

"Cat got your tongue, huh? I didn't think I would be able to render you quiet this fast... here I thought you were going to put up more of a fight before you went quiet," Unknown asked. His lips were curled into a bemused smirk. "I don't really like dealing with others, especially not princesses who think they're far too good to speak to people like me. But you're not like that, are you?"

He began to walk in her direction.

"I don't..." She managed a weak-willed whisper. "I don't know what you mean."

Unknown shook his head, "No, no, let's not ruin this by saying anything you'll regret later, princess."

Lila began to back up until her back hit the wall. She looked to her left and then to her right, not seeing a way out of this room. There were no windows and there was only one door in this chamber. It was like it was built to isolate and corner someone into madness. The only way in inside happened to be the only way outside, and he was blocking the way.

He kept talking as he approached her, not batting an eyelash at the way that she was looking at him. "You're a good girl who hates to displease others, isn't that right? You hate the thought of somebody being upset or being scared out there. That's why you put yourself into dangerous situations even if it hurts you in the progress. I might even go as far as to say that it gets your panties wet when you see others pleased with themselves. That's just the kind of person that you are."

His palm pressed against the wall beside her head and she jumped.

She really did look like a cornered animal. Underneath those fearful eyes and trembling fingertips, her heart was racing so fast that she feared it was going to explode out of her chest. "What do you want from me?"

Surprised by her bold admission, Unknown couldn't stop the cackle that left his lips. "It's not what I want from you that brought you here to paradise. It's what you can do for paradise, princess... and what paradise can do for you, that lead you to this place," He leaned over just low enough that his breath rolled off against her cheek. "You'll figure out what that means in due time."

"I don't want to know what any of that means," Lila said, shutting her eyes tight. That workaround didn't want any sense, and Lila wasn't sure that she wanted to understand what he meant. If this place was one of those inane groups where they followed one person around like they were God, then she was almost certain that there was no way she could talk her way out of it. Places like this had a way of reprogramming people's brains so far from who they used to be that they couldn't be reasoned with.

If this guy was bad... that meant there were others that were just the same, or worse.

"That's such a shame," Unknown murmured. "I thought that somebody like you would enjoy being in a position of power for once. I guess you would rather remain at the bottom of the food chain, huh?"

When she didn't give him a response at all and refused to answer his presence that's when he decided to take things a few steps further. He reached up with his left hand and let it rake up and down her back, stopping just short of her bottom. Soft... she was incredibly soft underneath his touch. Taking advantage of her lapse of control was far too easy for him. She looked far too comfortable for him to be pleased, and he couldn't have that, now could he?

Her eyes snapped open and she stared in him with a mixture of shock and confusion running through her expression all at once. Panicked, her knee-jerk reaction was to lift her hand and -

He caught her wrist before she could manage to hit him.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing there?" Unknown taunted. His fingers ran against her throat just enough to feel the hint her quivering heartbeat and remind her how easy it would be to wrap his hands around that pretty little throat of hers. Not that he would ever truly hurt his princess... just remind her who was the boss every now and again just like this. "If you wanted to play rough... all you had to do was ask me, princess."

The way her body shook and trembled with terror made him giddy.

"I want nothing of the sort!" Lila spat in his face. She thrashed against his grasp as hard as she could but it was a fruitless endeavor. She was much shorter than him and hardly that stronger than a newborn kitten. No matter how hard she pushed back against him there was no doubt that he could overpower her with his stature alone. "Fuck you!"

"That's some foul language for a pretty girl, don't you think?"

Those big brown eyes of hers narrowed at him. Rather than opening her mouth to say any more vulgarities Then, she gave him a swift kick to the side which forced him to let go of her wrist instantly. Her feet collided with the floor and she shrank even lower than before, holding her breath and bracing herself for the worst.

" _You little_ -!"

His face was lined with anger at her actions. He clenched his fists tightly and prepared himself to lash back out at her for her transgressions but he stopped just short of doing it. The breath that he inhaled was sharp and wild; Just like the look in his eyes. If he so much as harmed a hair on her head that he would likely be punished for it. Unknown's shoulders were tight as he turned his back from Lila and looked around the room for something. When he had found what he was looking for that's when he turned back to the trembling woman.

"If you want to make yourself useful and stop yourself from pissing me off in the future, I suggest you take a look through this and figure it out," He said, looking down into her fearful eyes without hesitation. He shoved a packet of folders into her hands and Lila nearly dropped them do to the weight that came with them, but she did her best to stay upright. "Figure out which one of those girls is dim-witted enough to do exactly what you did for me, and I'll let what you tried to do slide for now. Try anything like that again and I'll make you regret it."

Lila's body stiffened as Unknown turned away from her, and he sat down in his chair, booting the computer back to life and springing countless windows of what she assumed was code. "You still have a bit of fight in you... heheheh. As much as I would love to rip that fight out of you right now and make you beg for mercy, I have to get back to work. There's still much to be done to secure my next tester... now be a good girl, and stay silent like a grave for me, will you?"

Her knees finally buckled and she fell to the cold ground, her eyes began to well up with anguished tears, and her quickened breath died down as her chest was wracked with quiet sobs.


	4. Bad Guy

IV

**Bad Guy**

* * *

All and all, it had been a great few days for the hacker and there seemed to be no end to his success.

There was so much work to be done to secure the future success of Mint Eye, and the amount of work seemed to be adding up on his list of things to complete by the day. When Unknown had changed his mind in the middle of his operation and captured his target well before the original time was when he knew he would have much more to handle. However, he wasn't going to complain about it... not now... not when he had what he wanted. It meant that he had gone ahead and secured the princess before anyone else could get their grubby hands on her body.

It was what the Savior wanted, anyway. What was the harm in luring her to this place before time?  _Surely nothing_. This was the way that things had to be, and without letting her get involved with any of the RFA it just made it easier to get her to listen to him. There wouldn't be as much investment with those people if she didn't know them. It should have been a walk in the park to get things done. This scenario was ideal, and it kept those idiots from so much as touching a hair on her head.

His blood boiled when he thought about it.

Now, he wouldn't have to worry about that... because she was in this place with him, and no place else in the world. As it should be in his opinion. Unknown now had all the time to fine-tune the application system before he went with the next candidate. Which meant the extra layer of security would prove to make any attempt that redhead tried to pull laughable at best.

There were always benefits to doing the wrong thing, at least.

Speaking of candidates, it seemed fitting that the first task that he places into the hands of Lila Lancelot happened to be just that very thing.

The next person would be coming from who she deemed worthy. She was a quick-study, fortunately for him, and had taken to reading through his information without many words said about afterward. He had no time to dedicate his attention to teaching her something she could figure out on her own. The princess of paradise deserved some credit for her brain. He didn't exactly hate smart girls, he preferred people that could fend for themselves first, but they couldn't be too smart for their own good.

It would be a shame if somebody said something that shouldn't have said and then got hurt because of it. She figured out real fast that she shouldn't say much; That showed her character down to the letter.

He paused in the row of text that he was typing when he heard the sound of her breathing quiet down. He glanced over his shoulder and looked at her where she sat in the corner of the room. "Looking over the candidates? Say, have you made up your mind on which one should take your place?"

Her hair covered her face and she didn't make a peep.

"I thought not. Though, I can't say I blame you for being indecisive about it. There's just really just no person out there that can match up to your level of sheer dumb naivety." He sat back at attention, his hands long gone from the keyboard and attention now on Lila. "Still, even after I let you have a phone back to help you sort things out, tsk tsk. It's like you're not even trying to help me, princess."

Not that she could use it to contact anyone. He didn't think she would even bother trying, honestly.

"...What exactly are you trying to use them for, Unknown?" Lila finally spoke up, her eyes flickering over the numerous faces of people that could be dragged into whatever this was just like that. All of these people were innocent. Nobody deserved to be thrown into the fire like that. It made her sick to think that whatever he was planning on doing could hurt one of these people. "I don't know what in the world this place is. You won't tell me jack shit about it, other than the fact it's a paradise for outcasts. Of course, I wouldn't want to drag someone into something I don't even understand!"

Unknown scoffed. "You don't have the courtesy to know more about this place until you prove how loyal you are. It's exactly as I've already told you, this group consists of the down-trodden and misfortunate, my Savior does all she can to ensure the happiness of others, and there are people out there that are working against us to destroy paradise. It's my- no,  _our job_  to make sure that those people don't damn this place. We have to destroy them before they can destroy us. To ensure that we can do that, we have to toss in a clueless variable to shake things up with those people. Trust me, if you knew anything about those traitors and liars, you would want nothing more than to remove that filth from the world."

Lila stared at him from underneath the hair that just barely covered her face, and exhaled. Her lips were in a tight line. "You can see why I hesitate to listen to the person that kidnapped me, don't you? What makes you the good guy here compared to these liars and traitors that you're talking about? If you were the good guy, you wouldn't have had to take me by force."

"Good guys... bad guys... the world isn't so morally good. It's grey... it's in between the two of them. You should know that better than anyone. Isn't there individuals in your life that you trust as good but you know have done bad things? You'll understand in due time why I had to take you that way. It took me a while to understand my purpose in life, as well as the meaning of my only existence... but this is the place to find yourself and find true happiness. I had to take desperate measures to make sure you weren't harmed by those traitors, especially that redheaded liar," he hissed. "If you were the one who happened to follow through with the Savior's plan then you would have gotten hurt... far beyond the small fears you've felt by just getting taken off the streets."

Her widened eyes flickered with confusion.

"I don't think that..." She began to speak.

"You shouldn't think. You should just listen." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't try my patience, princess. I'm giving you a lot of credit now because of who you are and who you can be in the future... but don't think that means you're safe from anything in paradise. After all, if you want to believe that I'm the bad guy, then I can turn into the bad guy for you."

"And if I don't cooperate with you?" She dared to ask him,  _once again_.

His lips crept into a widened smirk. "Then I can't speak for the safety of the person that winds up in your place."


	5. Pavlove

V

**Pavlove**

* * *

She slept in the corner of the room that night with her knees huddled to her chest.

There were moments through the night that she would awaken, her heart beating out of her chest, mind reeling at the environment she was in, and fingers trembling as she tried not to make too much sound. Every time that she would find herself awake, he would be there at his computer,  _every time_. It seemed like he didn't move a muscle from that spot. It was as if he were glued to his work and nothing else.

His determination was something else.

All she had to go off of was his notes. There wasn't a lot of them with what she had, and there was definitely a lot more then what he had placed into her hands. He just wasn't going to give her that information yet. This group that he had been talking about was called the RFA, for short, and the only thing that she knew about them was that it was some kind of fundraising organization. It wasn't clear what they were working for, nor did she have any clues about the members of this group just yet.

What Lila didn't understand was how a group like this could be filled with people that were bad. It didn't seem like a group of people trying to do better for something could have bad intentions.

The first person that was listed as a part-timer, the second was a nurse, the third was a travel blogger, and the last one was a student studying abroad in Seoul. Each of the people listed here had common traits that became increasingly clear when Lila read through their profiles. Unknown hadn't been kidding when he said that they were aiming for a specific type of person for their project. They were all in their late teens to their late twenties, not many close friends or family to speak of, hard-workers who didn't flinch, and types easily swayed by their hearts rather than their head.

They were people like her... people that were just trying to live their lives as best as they could... and he wanted her to pick the person that would be as naive as she was. It pained her that no matter she did one of these people was going to wind up someplace that could hurt them. But at the same time, if she didn't go through with helping him, then whatever they were going to experience could be even worse. The guilt would eat at her heart no matter what happened and the thought stayed with her as she learned more about them.

Lila was just staring at the last person on the list. Although they had a cute face, Lila wasn't sure if they identified as a female or not. Unknown had implied that the list consisted of girls, but she wasn't sure that it did.

This person was the only person not born in Korea, and the only one that had nothing but their own self to care for. The student that had come to study by themselves at the university that wasn't all that far from where her plane had brought her, and they were only a little younger than she was, which made them the youngest on the list. Kusai Hinata, that was their name. They seemed to be Japanese, at least, the characters on their social media looked like their language.

"Is that the one you were thinking of, princess?" She nearly dropped the device out of her hand when his voice rang through the once quiet room. The clatter of fingers against the keyboard died down just as quickly. Lila lifted her head and stared in his direction, monetarily wondering how he knew what she was looking that, then it struck her that she was going through his device, and certainly it was mirrored to something else that would allow him to know what she was doing.

"...They don't have anyone in this country looking out for them, they're just as alone as I was. It means that they wouldn't have anyone worried about them if something happened. Their family would just think they were busy with their work over here, and leave it at that." she murmured, sickened by the words coming out of her mouth. "These others... they're always interacting with others online and in public... they have people that count on them to be there... or people that look to see them more often than not."

Unknown considered that. "Heh, yeah, you've got a point there. Less loose ends to deal with, later on. It means there'll be a lot less work for me to worry about."

"Is that why you picked me?" She countered, voice weak underneath the static hum of the computers.

"Mmm, it didn't hurt. You aren't privy to know the answers yet." He responded.

Lila hesitated, "What exactly are you going to make them do when you speak to them?"

"Oh, it's going to be very fun to watch, I'll promise you that." He chuckled. Unknown didn't answer her question at all. "They're going to be taking care of things on the front line. They'll be dealing with those traitors and liars, and they'll soak their attention like a sponge. It'll be too easy. I believe you've made a good choice."

Lila never outright said she had made up her mind. "I never said I picked any of them."

"Ah, but you've eliminated all of the ones that would be a pain in the ass to deal with... that's enough for me to work with, dear princess, that's cooperation at it's finest," he countered, smoothly. "No point in wasting my time with girls who won't benefit paradise, and my Savior."

"What exactly did these people do that's so bad?" Lila asked him. "Why go to these lengths at all?"

"They hurt my Savior," he responded without flinching. "And they deserve everything they have coming... every single burning wound and cut they receive, and they deserve it. They deserve it all."

"That doesn't seem like something a peaceful person would want to happen."

There was a loud banging sound that came from the door and it made him stop what he was doing and hiss a few obscenities underneath his breath. He hated to be interrupted. There was nothing that he hated more than to be interrupted when he was in the middle of playing his games. He also hated when he had to deal with the other Believers in any capacity. Most of them that worked closely with the Savior were full of themselves and didn't fear him as much as they should have. There was nothing worse to Unknown then having to confront boring individuals that gave him absolutely nothing in return to please him.

"The Savior knows what you've done, and she's not pleased with your actions."

Unknown scowled. He didn't seem too pleased that someone had interrupted his work, and as Lila had noted, the man was dedicated to working his fingers down to the bone. "I was going to inform her of the situation once I found her replacement," he said. It was an excuse of sorts, and it seemed increasingly clear that he wasn't supposed to have brought her to this place just yet. "She was going to come here sooner or later, point blank."

The visitor's stone-cold face wasn't bothered by the vicious attitude that came from Unknown's mouth. it rolled right off of him like he was used to hearing Unknown speak without such tact. "She said that she wants to see the girl immediately, and she's not going to take any excuses."

"Fine, then," he started to get up.

The man raised his hand to stop Unknown before he rose from his chair. " _Alone_ , I might add."

He slumped back in his chair with a sour look on his face. "Take her away then. It will do her some good to speak with the Savior. it might put some sense into her head about paradise."

Lila had no choice but to go and meet this so-called Savior now.


	6. Panic Room

**VI**

Panic Room

* * *

Lila found herself in a dark and secluded room seemingly alone once this guard that Unknown had dubbed a Believer left her behind. Where was she? She stared, looking around for someone, or something, and finding nothing in its place. Had they just thrown her somewhere to get rid of her? Why was this so-called Savior upset, and what did this woman want to do with her? Was this just some kind of trap?

"Hello," Suddenly, a soft voice spoke through that darkness and she whipped her head around to meet the steely gaze of a woman with long blonde hair and green eyes. "Oh my, I can't believe he brought you here so shamelessly. Threatening a young woman out on the streets like that to get his way... tsk, tsk. I must offer my sincerest apologies for his actions. I never thought for a moment that he would have the tact to be so unjust to a woman as important as you are."

Lila just stared until this figure materialized in front of her form. This woman, who she could only assume was the Savior of this Paradise, was approaching her without any hesitation. She wore a tight black dress that showed off her figure with a small cutout window around her chest. She smelled of floral aromas, intoxicating and powerful enough to knock you off of your feet; She stood no taller then Lila did, barely hovering around five feet tall.

She offered her hand to Lila.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, despite the poor circumstances you've been placed in. I've been wanting to meet with you for some time. I thought it would have been later this year that we finally meet... but I'm glad to finally see your face. You have a very lovely complexion." She said, the ghost of a smile on her face.

Lila was so winded by her appearance, and by the sheer ability, this woman had to speak without any qualms. She radiated the confidence of the sun and there something about her that rubbed Lila the wrong way. But it was the kind of fear in her stomach that told her not to open her mouth for her own safety, and that it would be smarter to get out of dodge. There was no fear in her eyes unlike the budding terror in her own. She hesitantly took the hand of this woman as she believed she had no choice but to greet now.

"I'm Lila," she said, unsure.

There was a knowing glint in her green eyes. Something about those eyes was familiar to Lila, but she couldn't place a finger on that just yet. "Oh, I know, my dear. I've been waiting for this moment to come upon us. It was fated in the stars... but oh, I don't need to get ahead of myself just yet. I just wanted to greet you."

"...and what can I call you?"

The woman only smiled, "Everyone here calls me Savior. I wouldn't mind if you took to calling that in the meantime. Perhaps that will change in the future once your performance proves to be worthwhile."

"And this place? What exactly is it, if you don't mind my asking?" Lila swallowed down her fears as best as she could. "All that he's told me is that it's a paradise for outcasts."

"I don't blame you for being curious... after all, it must be hard to believe there is any place on this planet for people that have been hurt time and time again by society to be protected from the waiting maw of the world," Savior said. "But that's the intention of this special place, to protect those in need from becoming harmed any more. Doesn't that sound perfect to you?"

"It's almost too good to be true," she said.

Savior nodded her head, knowingly, as if she expected Lila to say that. "I know what you must be thinking. But I can assure you that despite the shaking circumstance of your arrival to Paradise, this place only wants to protect you just as it wants to protect my precious followers. Since you are now under my wing, I want to protect you from the pain of the world just as the rest of them."

"Even Unknown?"

There was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "Is that what you've taken to calling him? Ah, he wasn't ever fond of his name, I should have suspected as much when he got his hands on you." She rested a hand against Lila's shoulder, "Yes, even that boy, as well. There are so many children out there like him, and like yourself that have been hurt by people in their lives. Here? You don't have to worry about that ever again. Isn't that grand?"

Lila had to stare this woman in the eyes, and nod her head. "Y— Yes, yes, that sounds lovely."

"I'm delighted to hear that from you, Lila," Savior murmured. "I thought it would more of a challenge to speak with you, but I knew that I could trust my gut when it came to you."

"Of course," Lila nodded her head, once again.

Savior reached out and brushed her fingers against Lila's cheek, cupping it with her hands. Somehow, despite the fact that they stood at the same height, she seemed to stand much taller then Lila did. "It may be a pain to toil underneath Unknown's strict work schedule, but I would like you to continue to work with him on this project in the meantime. He means well, even if he has a nasty attitude, my dear. Listen to his every word from now on no matter what he says, and complete all your tasks."

Lila could only stare at her petrified reflection in the Savior's eyes.

"If you please me with your progress, I'll be sure to reward you greatly."

* * *

Lila returned to Unknown's chambers where she was unkindly deposited by one of the Believers. She rubbed her arm from where they had been holding her tightly, knowing that if they let go of her that she might have tried to make a break for it. They were right to assume that. Had Lila thought she could get out of this place then she would have done such a thing.

Unknown didn't bother turning around when the door closed her but there was the smallest gap in his typing as his voice sprang through the darkness. "Did you have an educational meeting with the Savior?"

"...I guess so. I don't know what I was supposed to learn from that. I just didn't expect her to be... kind." she said, unsure of what that was supposed to mean. That had to be what was bothering Lila the most... the fact that this woman was supposedly in charge of this organization was so kind, and the people that worked for her were far from that.

There was a snort underneath his breath. Unknown seemed to think that she would read his thoughts, know what he wanted to say before he said it, and know the meaning of it without even blinking. "You'll come to understand how great this place is, princess, try not to overwhelm yourself with any nonsense and I assure you it will click sooner or later in your head. Now, don't waste any more of my time and come here, I need your help monitoring the target."


	7. Devil

**VII**

**Devil**

* * *

"Hey, Hinata, I'll catch up with you later."

"Yeah, text me, I'll get back to you about the work."

Hinata smiled knowingly at his friend and gathered all of his books from their desk and headed out of the classroom. He stashed them away in his bag, at least the ones that would fit, and headed out of the science department of the university. There was a lot of specific homework that he was going to work on this weekend, unfortunately, but as long as he didn't get distracted with every other little thing that needed to be taken care then it wouldn't be an issue! Of course, that was a monumental task for someone who was scatterbrained.

He dug his hands into the straps of his bag and followed the dimly lit hallway until it led him out of the building and into the cool night air of an autumn evening in Seoul.

It was so very different here compared to back home in Japan, and yet, there was a sense of familiarity in the city streets and all the hustle and bustle of people going about their business. When the chance had been given to him to leave his home and learn all kinds of new things in another country, well, he had jumped at that chance and hadn't once looked back from it. There was a lot that he had left behind him in Japan, and while a few of those things made his heart heavy, there were so many other things that allowed him to live the way that he liked.

He would rather look ahead and than turn around, at least, that's how he came to feel very recently. Why look back when he could breathe and have people look at him the way that he wanted now? It wasn't like he was missing people, or the way that he once was treated by others... far from it, and because of that, this move to Seoul felt much like a positive catalyst for his life.

That was a few months ago, though, and he had been comfortably settled in his new home and university. Besides that, though, he hadn't really had too much change from what he had already had. It was a comfortable hum of new and normalcy, which, wasn't the worst thing in the world. Too much of a culture shock might have struck him harder than he could have handled, and this median was just enough to make him confident enough to exist the way that he wanted.

He had made a few acquaintances along the way and managed to make a nice environment for himself by all means.

It wasn't all that lonely here, though. He did have his precious pet and best friend with him in his little cozy apartment. Those two things being one in the same way. That title belonged to a very scaley friend who wanted attention and kisses. Yes, his best friend was a reptile. No, that wasn't weird at all! If you think that it's strange then you have a different kind of definition in mind for that word than what Hinata did.

He knew he probably needed to pick up some more snacks for his scaley friend, thinking to the amount that he had stashed away and trying to calculate the date that he needed to get more. Hm, speaking of that, he wondered if he needed to pick up some things for dinner for himself too. He wasn't sure if he had enough to make a rounded meal for dinner with all the sides.

Did he want that, though, or did he want something easy and not at all hard to make?

Hinata caught himself up in his thoughts of things to do and things that he had to do that he didn't notice that streets had gotten a little more crowded than they usually did at this hour, and he wound up bumping into somebody and dropping his things. Those had cost him something and he didn't need to lose those now of all times. That would get him an earful from back home whether he liked it or not, and Hinata was not about to let that one happen.

He cursed when his books knocked against the ground and scrambled to pick them all up.

"Oh, sorry about that!" he said, instinctual response to apologize.

"It's alright," the voice of the stranger said. "Here, the things you dropped."

It was like the world froze for a fraction of a second when Hinata looked up from the ground and met the gaze of glimmering green eyes underneath white locks and a hood. Something about those eyes pierced him like an arrow of ice, or a spider crawling up his back. Alarm bells were ringing in his body but for some reason, he couldn't understand why. He had to shrug away that strange foreboding feeling and swallow it down with the bile that dared to crawl up his throat from his stomach.

Hinata took back the few books that he had dropped from the stranger and adjusted them back in his grasp and bowed his head. "Thanks for that, I should have watched where I was going. Sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, no worries. _It was my pleasure to help someone in need_." and with that, the stranger dressed in all black left him to his own thoughts. It was his pleasure? What a strange way to phrase yourself. The world started spinning again when he disappeared and the crowds grew back to their normal size around him.

What was that feeling? And why had it struck him so quickly out of thin air? What kind of person had he just encountered on the streets? Well, he couldn't worry about the what-ifs and what-nots, he turned his head in the direction of his apartment and started to walk again. Hinata shrugged off that feeling that had started to grow in his stomach so he could hurry back to his apartment to feed his pet.

He had more important things to worry about than bumping into a creep on the streets, that just happened sometimes, and couldn't be avoided.

It wasn't like he would ever see that stranger again...  ** _right?_**

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

It's been a long summer, that's all I can say. It had a lot of downs and a handful of ups, and I just struggled to find the heart to write what I needed to write for a while. I had the energy today, so I sat down and finished this one. I hope you all have had a nice summer!


End file.
